The group stages are over and it’s time for the Best of 5 Knockout Stage! The teams to open the Quarterfinals are EU’s Origen (4-2 and 2nd seed out of group D) and LMS’ Flash Wolves (4-2 and 1st seed out of group A), which will air Thursday, October 15th at 9am PST (5pm BST). This is likely the most competitive series, with both teams tied at 4-2 in reasonably competitive groups. Both teams played the longest games in the group stages (their game times averaged over 40 min) and because of that we could see fantasy points galore when these games are all said and done.

Let’s take a closer look at each team. What are each team’s win conditions? What will lead to their downfall? Who will be the fantasy studs to lead your team to success?

Flash Wolves – The Flash Wolves started out slow but finished strong, winning their last three games to close out their group as the #1 seed. They rode the damage of their Midlaner Maple and their ADC NL (who subbed in after Kramer played a subpar game against CLG). Those two not only played better than their competition in the group stages, but they also had the highest damage per minute of all ADCs and Midlaners. They are a team that is unafraid to fight, and when they fight, they have come out ahead because of their carries. Steak was thought to be the weak link before the group stages began, but he consistently broke even with the enemy top laner or even beat them. Steak has been the biggest surprise for the Flash Wolves. He finished with the highest kill participation of all top laners, and 3rd highest KDA of all top laners. However when you take a closer look it appears he still may be the area that Origen can capitalize on. His CS per min was one of the lowest of all top laners, and his opponent Soaz is one of the best (5th best as compared to 15th). Flash Wolves wins this match if they are able to pressure the map early on bot and mid so that the enemy team can’t destroy Steak and make FW pay. If Maple and NL are able to get a few items they will be able to out damage and outplay Origen in team fights. Flash Wolves will lose the match if Origen’s bot lane is able to beat FW bot lane in standard 2v2,allowing Steak to get bullied by Soaz. If they fall behind their team fighting play-style will be turned against them by a smart Origen. The players that will have the biggest fantasy impact for the Flash Wolves will be Karsa (Jungler), Maple (Mid), and NL (ADC).

Origen – Origen was one of the biggest surprises of the group stage. They were able to ride a 3-0 1st week to finish 4-2 and come out as the #2 seed of group D. Origen was able to win their games by allowing Soaz to put pressure on the map, while Niels and xPeke supported him with good wave clear and high damage. Origen also had some of the better drafts of all the teams at worlds. This will be the component that will help most in their best of 5 against the Flash Wolves. xPeke came out to prove to everyone that he wasn’t just a utility midlaner and the weakest link of Origen, leaving the group stages with the highest CS per minute of any player at Worlds.

Niels is the secret weapon of Origen…well at this point it isn’t a secret anymore. When Niels goes even or gets ahead of the enemy ADC, Origen knows exactly how to play around his strength and they began to pull ahead of their competitors. Niels finished with 31 kills (5th) and nearly an 85% kill participation (2nd highest of ADC).

Overall, Origen wins if Soaz can get a lead on Steak, and Niels and Mithy are able to break even or beat SwordArt and NL in the bot lane. If either or both of these things happens, Origen knows how to pressure the map and will force FW to make bad decisions or poor rotations. Origen will lose if they put too many resources trying to get Soaz ahead and Maple is able to bully xPeke out of the midlane. If Origen is forced to play reactively in the face of the Flash Wolves unrelenting pressure, potential mistakes will be their undoing. The players that will shine the most in this matchup are Niels (ADC), Mithy (Support) and Soaz (Top).

When the dust clears from this 5 game brawl, Origen will stand victorious. Origen will beat the Flash Wolves in the pick and ban phase, and the experience of Soaz, xPeke, Amazing, and Mithy will help them to keep a steady mind as Niels carries his team to victory.

Who do you think will win this Quarterfinal match-up? Who are your picks to carry your team to victory in your fantasy league? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @fantasyriftcom with your predictions.

Group A plays this Thursday, which means every team plays three games. In your daily league you will get the choice of 4 players at each position. This group was the most competitive group of all the groups the first weekend. Every team got at least one win and no team went undefeated. The choices are smaller each day, but knowing the strengths of the teams helps us decide on whom we should pick. Here is a quick breakdown of each team, and who should be the best bang for their buck (I will be using Alphadraft’s salary for my examples of this post)

Pain Gaming – Even though they did beat Flash Wolves in a game, they will have the lowest fantasy point total of the 4 teams. The one thing that Pain has done well in their games is group and get picks. They have the highest kill participation of their members of every team (all 5 players are in the top 20 of Kill Participation). However they didn’t have a single person in the top 20 of kills or assists. For that reason I don’t think any of the pain members are worth buying for this group. If you have to buy someone for cheap Kami is your best bet.

Flash Wolves – The Flash Wolves were never out of a game the first weekend. They were upset by Pain, but they were winning most of the game. They didn’t have any huge performances from their players, at least no one player had a 40-50 point game. They did have a few that showed they could be worth getting when the price is right. The ones to look out for are Steak, Karsa, and Swordart. Steak has particularly good value for these match-ups, and played even with Smeb and Zion the opening games.

Counter Logic Gaming – CLG is tied for first, but showed that they are beatable. They had some fantasy studs the first weekend though. If you take away the Koo game Doublelift and Pobelter had 1 death between them. Doublelift had 14 kills in the three games (13 in the two games against FW and PNG) and Pobelter had 27 assists in the three games (he had 2 in the game against Koo). These are the two that I think are worth owning in any lineup you make. If you don’t end up with both of them than Doublelift should be given the edge because he will usually lead the team in kills. Both Zion and Aphro are great pickups too, but I think you can get more value from the other team’s top and support.

Koo Tigers – Even though Koo lost their first match-up against FW it appears that they are the best team out of the four. I would be comfortable with owning any of the Koo players for the three games this Thursday, but if you want to hedge your bet with some other team’s players than these are the three that should perform best. Gorilla had 2 great games and 1 mediocre game, but since he is $400 cheaper than Aphro and the same price as Swordart I think you get the most value with him as your support. Pray is also a great buy. Pray is $600 cheaper than Doublelift and the same price as NL/Kkramer, even though he finished with only 1 less kill, and 3 more assists than Double. The bot lane for Koo could be a steal. The last buy should be Hojin. He is the best jungler of all the group A teams and is only a little more expensive despite putting up much bigger numbers throughout the games.

Here is a lineup that I’m running

Top – FW Steak $6900

Jung – Koo Hojin $7600

Mid – CLG Pobelter $7900

ADC – Koo Pray $8000

Support – Koo Gorilla $7100

Flex – CLG Doublelift $8600

Team – Koo Tigers $3800

Who do you think will break out on day 1? let us know in the comments below or tweet us @FANTASYRIFTcom. Good luck to you all this week, and enjoy the games.

Day 1 is finally here of the 2015 League of Legends World Championships. We see if our predictions are right or wrong. We enjoy the games and moments the next month will bring us. Last, we make some money along the way using Alphadraft, Draftkings, or Vulcuun. These match-ups should provide favorable scoring; iG vs FNC, CLG vs FW, C9 vs AHQ (I am a C9 fan so my faith might be misleading for the first game). These match-ups will end up being one sided so won’t offer as many scoring opportunities if you pick players on the rosters; Pain vs Koo, SKT vs H2K, EDG vs BKT. Here is a good day 1 team based on value and match-ups. I’m using alphadraft for this post.

Top – Zz1tai iG $7200

Jungle – KaKao iG $7300

Mid – Incarnation C9 $7200

ADC -Sneaky C9 $7500

Support – Yellowstar FNC $7700

Flex – Rekkles FNC $9000

Team – FNC $3600

I went all-in on the iG vs FNC match-up. I think FNC is going to edge out a victory, but if they don’t this game will probably be a longer day 1 game (remember the longer the games the more opportunities the players will score more fantasy points).

Who do you think will shine on day 1? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @fantasyriftcom

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